Foam Darts

ABSTRACT

The present invention generally relates to an improved foam dart that operates with improved accuracy. The shaft of the foam dart is shaped with indentions that direct airflow around the dart to improve its accuracy. The dart tip is also connected through a rigid neck portion that further improves the accuracy of the dart during use. An alternative embodiment allows the user to place a pop cap within the dart tip that will explode to cause a loud bang when the dart contacts a hard object at the end of its flight. Side vents direct exhaust gases away from the target to improve safety.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/678,311, filed Aug. 16, 2017, which in turn claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/376,110, filed Aug. 17, 2016;62/407,129, filed Oct. 12, 2016; and 62/482,508, filed Apr. 6, 2017;each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to foam darts and, moreparticularly, to improved foam darts that provide increased accuracy andmore dynamic response.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Toy darts for use in spring activated, or air activated, toy guns havebeen enjoyed for many years. To insure safety, the body of the darts istypically a foam cylinder with suction cups on the forward end, therebyallowing for the dart to stick to a target. In some embodiments, thesedarts use a soft, bullet-shaped tip. Though enjoyable, the poor accuracyof toy darts has thwarted wider acceptance. What is needed is animproved dart suitable for use with toy guns wherein the dart hassignificantly improved accuracy without compromising the safety of thedart. An object of the present invention is to provide a more accuratefoam dart to improve the user's experience.

Toy darts also suffer from the lack of dynamic response, whereinsuccessful hits make no sound and often fail to complete suction in thecase of suction cup tipped darts. Or, in the case of soft-nosed darts,little to nothing happens when the darts make contact. What is needed isa foam dart that provides increased dynamic response to provide morestimulation for the user and to provide additional feedback in the caseof a successful hit. Another object of the present invention is toprovide a more dynamic foam dart to improve the user's experience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention accomplishes the foregoing objects by providing amore accurate foam dart. The present invention also accomplishes theforegoing objects by providing a more dynamic foam dart.

Though not limited thereto, there are two conventional sizes of highaccuracy darts based on the dart's diameter. The preferred size is not atechnical limitation but is based on the installed base of toy guns inthe market and the desire for the high accuracy darts to be suitable foruse with any gun already in use. The current market provides for adiameter shell of ¼ inch to 1 inch with a ½ inch diameter shell, a ⅝inch diameter shell and a ¾ inch diameter shell being preferred as thesizes and material of construction being significantly the same for manyyears. The ½ inch shell will be referred to as the small dart herein andthe 5/8 and ¾ will be referred to as the large darts.

There are two primary components to the dart with one being the shelland the other being the tip. The shell and tip will be describedseparately with the understanding that the choice of the combination ofshell and tip is not limited as any tip described can be used with anyshell described. Furthermore, the various tips described herein may beused with conventional shells thereby improving the performance ofconventional shells, and the shells described herein may be used withconventional tips thereby providing an improvement.

The present invention provides an improved foam dart comprising a tipoperably affixed to a rigid neck that is disposed within a foam shaft,wherein said foam shaft contains a multiplicity of air directingindentions that cause said improved foam dart to travel with moreaccuracy. The air directing indentions are preferably flute shaped orring shaped. The tip is preferably a suction cup, bullet-shaped,crown-shaped, or button-shaped.

In one embodiment described herein, the improved foam dart may be mademore dynamic for the user by comprising a tip operably affixed to arigid neck that is disposed within a foam shaft, wherein said tipcontains a firing pin designed to accept and fire a pop cap. Thisembodiment can have a smooth shaft or it can be an improved accuracymodel comprising a multiplicity of air directing indentions disposedupon said foam shaft that cause said improved foam dart to travel withmore accuracy. Those indentions are also preferably flute shaped or ringshaped. This embodiment can also have a series of vent holes to safelyexhaust gases from the firing of a pop cap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more readily understood with reference to thefollowing specification in conjunction with the drawings herein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective and exploded view of an improved accuracy foamdart according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a representative view of dart tips according to five preferredembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a representative view of dart shafts according to twopreferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a representative view of multiple types of improved accuracyfoam darts with bullet-nose tips according to preferred embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 is a representative view of multiple types of improved accuracyfoam darts with suction-cup tips according to preferred embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an improved accuracy foam dart with abutton-nose tip according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of an improved accuracy foam dart with abullet-nose tip according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of an improved accuracy foam dart with apop-dart tip according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of an improved accuracy foam dart with apop-dart tip according to another preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of an improved accuracy foam dart with apop-dart tip according to another preferred embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, a perspective and exploded view of an improvedaccuracy foam dart 100 is illustrated for providing improved accuracyaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention. This embodiment ofdart 100 is comprised of a foam shaft 102 (also referred to as a shell)designed to receive tip 108. The tip contains a substantially rigid neck110, which in this embodiment is fitted within the lower portion of tip108. The tip in turn is designed for insertion into the front portion114 of shaft 102. Front portion 114 is disposed on the opposite end ofthe back portion 116 of shaft 102.

The flutes 104 along the sides of shaft 102 work in concert with neck110 to provide improved accuracy. Flutes 104 are preferablysymmetrically disposed with 2 to 8 flutes being preferred wherein theflutes extend from the transition between the neck, or narrowed portion,at least one tenth to no more than half the length of the shaft 102. Theneck 110 is preferably rigid or semi-rigid and acts, together with theflutes, to provide improved accuracy of the dart.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a representative view of five types of darttips according to five preferred embodiments of the invention isprovided for further illustration. Beginning from the left and top tobottom of FIG. 2, the invention is operable with many forms of darttips, where preferred embodiments are a button-nose tip 201, asuction-cup tip 202, a bullet-nose tip 203, a crown tip 204, or apop-dart tip 205.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a representative view of two types of dartshafts according to two preferred embodiments of the invention isprovided for further illustration. Beginning from the left of FIG. 3,the invention is operable with many forms of dart shafts where preferredembodiments are a fluted shaft 301 or a ringed shaft 302, where theflutes and rings are referred to herein as air directing indentions thatoperate to improve the accuracy of the darts.

Preferable embodiments of fluted shafts are described above. Thecircumnavigating flutes in the ringed shaft also provide improvedairflow. At least one groove is preferable with no more than 8 grooveswherein the grooves are disposed towards the front of the dart and arewithin the front half of the dart as measured along the axis of thecylinder within the shaft. As shown in the following figures, acombination of flutes and rings is also operable to improve accuracy.The form of the shell, with or without rings or flutes, is the mostcritical component of high accuracy darts. The form, or shape anddesign, of the shell influences the flow of air over the dart. The dartsthat have been manufactured in previous years have a tendency to arc andcurve in an unpredictable fashion. These new designs directly addressthese difficulties in traditional dart designs. High accuracy darts areaerodynamically superior in shape and form and fly more consistently ina straight line.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a representative view of multiple types ofimproved accuracy foam darts with bullet-nose tips are illustratedaccording to preferred embodiments of the invention. Beginning from theleft of FIG. 4, the invention provides improved accuracy using manyforms of bullet-nose tips and shafts where preferred embodiments areshown as a large ringed bullet-nose tip with a ringed shaft 401, largeringed and fluted bullet-nose tip with a fluted shaft 402, a smallringed bullet-nose tip with ringed shaft 403, a large ringed bullet-nosetip with smooth shaft 404, and a small ringed bullet-nose tip withsmooth shaft 405.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a representative view of multiple types ofimproved accuracy foam darts with suction-up tips are illustratedaccording to preferred embodiments of the invention. Beginning from theleft of FIG. 5, the invention provides improved accuracy using manyforms of suction-cup tips and shafts where preferred embodiments areshown as a large extended-length-neck suction-cup tip with fluted shaft501, a large-necked suction-cup tip with fluted shaft 502, anotherlarge-necked suction-cup tip with fluted shaft 503, a small wide-necksuction-cup tip with ringed shaft 504, a small narrow-neck suction-cuptip with smooth shaft 505, a small narrow-neck small-suction-cup tipwith fluted shaft 506, another small narrow-neck suction-cup tip withfluted shaft 507, a small wide-neck suction-cup tip with fluted shaft508, a small foam-neck suction-cup tip with fluted shaft 509, and asmall foam-neck suction-cup tip with dual fluted shaft 510.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exploded view of an improved accuracy foamdart with a button-nose tip according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated to reveal the various components of such dart.In this example, the shaft 602 is smooth, i.e., non-fluted andnon-ringed. The lower portion 604 of neck 606 is illustrated to indicatewhere and how it inserts into the front 608 of shaft 602. While theembodiment of FIG. 1 used a neck 110 that was housed within the lowerportion of tip 108, this example and the following examples use anotherembodiment of the neck that is illustrated separately from the tip andshaft for additional clarity. Placement and length of the neck can varyand is not critical to each design. It is only important that the neckis substantially rigid. Preferred embodiments typically use hard plasticto form the neck. Here, upper portion 610 of neck 606 is designed toaccept insertion of the lower portion 612 of button-nosed tip portion614. Button-nose tip 616 provides one of many tip shapes for theinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an exploded view of an improved accuracy foamdart with a bullet-nose tip according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated to reveal the various components. In thisexample, the shaft 702 is ringed instead of smooth, i.e., non-fluted.The lower portion 704 of neck 706 is illustrated to indicate where andhow it inserts into the front 708 of shaft 702. Upper portion 710 ofneck 706 is designed to accept insertion of the lower portion 712 ofbullet-nose tip portion 714. Bullet-nose tip 716 provides one of manytip shapes for the invention. The rings 718 that provide the ringedshaft 702 with improved accuracy are also visible in this example.

It is also possible to incorporate other objects in this design toimprove the dynamic response of the foam dart. More specifically,additional embodiments of the invention provide a pop tip that canreceive a pop cap from a standard cap pistol, thereby providing anaudible report when contacting a hard object. Cap guns utilizing ringcaps comprising cups with gunpowder therein are widely available invarious sizes and charge loads. The pop tip receives a single cap, suchas from a ring cap or linear assembly of strip caps, with frictionrelease thereby providing a quick replacement upon use.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an exploded view of an improved accuracy foamdart with a pop-dart tip according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated to reveal the various components. In thisexample, the shaft 802 is fluted instead of smooth, i.e., non-ringed.The lower portion 804 of neck 806 is illustrated to indicate where andhow it inserts into the front 808 of shaft 802. Upper portion 810 ofneck 806 is designed to accept insertion of the lower portion 812 of thepop-dart tip portion 814. Pop-dart tip 816 provides one of many tipshapes for the invention. The flutes 818 that provide the fluted shaft802 with improved accuracy are also visible in this example.

As illustrated further in FIGS. 9 and 10, the tip of a pop-dartembodiment preferably comprises at least one locking lug that reversiblyengages with a void in the front portion of the coupler, therebyreversibly securing the tip in the coupler during use while allowingremoval to replace a spent pop cap. To unlock the tip from the couplerthe operator twists and pulls the firing assembly out of the voidsallowing for the removal of the spent cap and insertion of a new cap.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an exploded view of an improved accuracy foamdart with a pop-dart tip according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated to describe its various parts and pieces. Abeveled foam shaft 902 is disposed as the outermost portion of the foamdart. A specialized neck 904 is provided with vent holes 906 to providea path for escaping gases when the pop-dart is operated. Holes 906 alsoprovide the female portion of the locking mechanism mentioned in theprevious paragraph. In this embodiment, back 908 of neck 904 is insertedinto the front 910 of foam shaft 902 until striker plate 912 is flushwith the outermost end of shaft 902.

During normal operation, neck 904 is already inserted into shaft 902 andthe tip is easily removable for loading pop caps. A user removes the tipfor loading and a disposable pop cap 916 is placed over firing pin 918.The user then presses the entire dart tip back into neck 904 so thatcontact head 914 is facing outwards. The dart is now ready for use.

The locking mechanism is more clearly visible in FIGS. 9 and 10 asprotuberances 920 and 1020, respectively, which operate with holes 906and 1006, respectively. In normal operation, the embodiment of FIG. 9operates as follows. The user presses the tip into neck 904 untilprotuberances 920 operate as the male portion to engage within the uppervent holes 906, operating as the female portion, to hold the tip inplace. Vent holes 906 are sized at approximately the same diameter asprotuberances 920 so as to allow entry of protuberances 920 into ventholes 906, whereby the tip is locked in place.

The entire dart is then loaded into a standard foam dart gun for use.When fired from a foam dart gun, the dart is propelled forward out ofthe gun. When contact head 914 makes contact with a hard surface at theend of its flight, it forces firing pin 918 into pop cap 916, whichcauses the pop cap to fire. Exhaust gases from the pop cap are safetydirected away from contact head 914 by venting those gasesperpendicularly out of vent holes 906, which provide a passage withinneck 904. In other words, neck 904 is hollow and thereby allows hotgases from the pop cap to flow outward through vent holes 906. In thisway, the hot gases do not come into contact with the surface struck bythe dart's flight. This provides improved safety in the case where thesurface struck is a person or, worse yet, an eye or ear of a person.

An alternative embodiment of a pop dart is illustrated in FIG. 10. Hereshaft 1002 is similar to shaft 902 from FIG. 9. But all of the workingmechanisms are different from FIG. 9. More specifically, neck 1004 isdesigned for insertion into the front 1010 of shaft 1002, but firing pin1018 is placed on the opposite end of neck 1004 in this embodiment. Innormal use, firing pin 1018 is securely fastened to the top of neck1004, which is then inserted into the front 1010 of shaft 1002 where itthereafter remains. Bullet-nose tip 1014 contains a hard-surface striker1012 and vent holes 1006.

The locking mechanism of the embodiment of FIG. 10 operates as follows.The user presses the tip into neck 1004 until protuberances 1020 engagewithin the vent holes 1006 to hold the tip firmly in place when affixedto neck 1004. Vent holes 1006 are sized at approximately the samediameter as protuberances 1020 so as to allow entry of protuberances1020 into vent holes 1006. Multiple other forms of locking mechanismsare possible in each of the above embodiments because the plasticmaterial used in foam darts is flexible.

To load this embodiment for firing, a user removes tip 1014 and places apop cap 1016 over firing pin 1018. Tip 1014 is then inserted back overneck 1004 to substantially cover neck 1004. When inserted into a foamdart gun and fired, the dart is propelled outward. When tip 1014 comesinto contact with a hard surface at the end of its flight, striker 1012is forced inward towards pop cap 1016, which in turns fires on firingpin 1018. As with the previous embodiment, hot gases from the pop capescape perpendicularly outward from the side of tip 1014 through ventholes 1006 to provide a measure of safety during use.

The invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments without limit thereto. Additional embodiments andimprovements may be realized which are not specifically set forth hereinbut which are within the scope of the invention as more specifically setforth in the claims appended hereto.

1. A foam dart with improved accuracy comprising a tip operably affixedto a substantially rigid neck wherein said rigid neck is disposed withina foam shaft, wherein said foam shaft contains a multiplicity of airdirecting indentions.
 2. The improved foam dart of claim 1 wherein saidtip comprises a suction cup.